Canada defeats Argentina on the back of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 

Canada was the better, deeper, more composed team. And they had a superstar.

In the end, it wasn’t all that close at all.

A game that was hyped up as the biggest challenge to date for the new and improved version of Team Canada up against an experienced and successful Argentina squad didn’t turn out to be all that challenging, with Canada running away with 99-87 win at home in Victoria, B.C. in front of a sold out arena to improve to 7-0 in FIBA World Cup Qualifying. 

It wasn’t that Argentina didn’t have skill. Or that they weren’t organized or competitive or physical or hard working. They were all of those things and more, putting in the type of effort and execution that would likely have been enough to beat most teams from the Americas. 

Only this version of Team Canada isn’t like most teams from the Americas. They’re not even like most teams in the world. Finally, for the first time in a long time, Team Canada is downright scary, with their own identity, a lot of depth, and a superstar. It has been a long time coming.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Canadians from the start, effortlessly controlling the game with his elite blend of athleticism, change-of-pace, playmaking, and finishing (in a lot of cases through contact). He finished the game with a team-high 23 points and 8 assists, seeming to put the ball through the hoop whenever the Canadians needed it.

Gilgeous-Alexander was 8-19 from the field, 3-6 from three and 4-4 from the line, having an efficient night and looking like the best player on the floor. But what was perhaps equally as impressive was his buy-in and execution on the defensive end, where despite being known for lackluster defence in the NBA, he managed to stay in front of his man and contain the ball while also scrapping with bigger players down low, finishing the game with a steal and two blocks, including this one late in the game:

That defensive buy-in comprises some of Team Canada’s identity under head coach Nick Nurse. While they are clearly a team with a lot of skill and depth — more on that later — they are also a team with a defence-first mentality, holding the Argentines to just 87 points. Some of that has to do with the complimentary personnel and their execution in their rotations, but a lot simply comes down to buy-in. After all, the Canadians were the scrappier team against Argentina, coming up with loose balls. And they were at least equally as aggressive as the Argentines, not afraid to be rough as much as the FIBA referees would let them. 

As announcer Paul Jones put it: “Winning plays, man. It’s not a beauty contest.” 

In fact, the Canadians had great composure on both sides of the ball. After getting off to a slow start, with the Argentines hitting their first 4 three-pointers to only be down 32-27 a couple minutes into the second quarter, the Canadians never looked rattled or changed their approach, understanding that the Argentines weren’t going to keep hitting every three. Sure, Nicolás Laprovittola finished with a game-high 30-points and 4 threes for Argentina, but aside from that, nobody posed a serious threat to Team Canada’s defense.

On the other side of the ball, Canada got a full team effort from what might have been the deepest roster this Team Canada has had since the 2021 Qualifiers. Gilgeous-Alexander led the way and Kelly Olynyk was right behind him offensively, playing a point-forward role as he created easy looks for himself and teammates off of blow-bys from the perimeter and double-teams in the post, finishing with 21-points and 7 rebounds. 

But all 10 players that Nurse gave serious minutes to had a positive impact on this game, from Dwight Powell’s rim protection and rebounding, Kassius Robertson and Cory Joseph’s outside shot-making, Melvin Ejim and the Scrubb brothers’ defense and all-around play, and even Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kevin Pangos chipping in in short stunts. 

 

With the win, Canada improved to 7-0 in World Cup qualifying, although a Dominican Republic win over Panama the same night means the Canadians will not advance to the World Cup after this window no matter their result against Panama. Still, they are in prime position to eventually qualify, first in Group E, almost guaranteed to advance. And as an added bonus, the Canadians finally exercised demons from their last trip to Victoria in 2021, when they lost at the overtime buzzer to the Czech Republic, putting an end to their Olympic dreams.

Unfortunately, Gilgeous-Alexander will be shut down after the Argentina game and will not be available versus Panama on Monday. His cousin Alexander-Walker will miss the game as well due to a wisdom tooth removal surgery, and Cory Joseph will miss the game with a family matter. Trae Bell-Haynes, JV Mukama, and Abu Kigab will replace them on the roster, while Kevin Pangos will likely start at point guard, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.

The game will still be as important as ever, even if it just got a little bit more competitive.

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